Bright perennials for shade

[Catname]

We have a very shaded border at the bottom of our garden that I've planted with a number of evergreens, hostas and ground cover against the backdrop of hedges and trees already there.

So it's not completely bland green, I've used a number of golden, variegated, and purple leaved plants but the colour seems very indistinct when you're sitting 50 feet away from it. What I'd really like would be some bright pops of colour so I'd really appreciate some suggestions if anyone can help me

Hydrangeas are ok in shade and look good from a distance.

Not perennial but how about foxgloves for earlier in summer?

Also maybe Japanese anemones? I think they may be shade tolerant.

brunnera jack frost has pretty white leaves which might be good

also bleeding hearts will give you bright pink in late spring

if the shade is from deciduous trees, then you can plant lots of spring bulbs (daffodils etc) that will flower before the trees get going.

some Acers can grow in shade & have colourful leaves in autumn

Crocosmia?

Thanks everyone for the suggestions.

I've got a couple of hydrangea which haven't flowered yet so I hope they will soon.

Foxgloves are a good suggestion as they would be a good height.

I love Japanese anenomes but never grown them somewhere that gets such little sun (a couple of hours from sunrise). I might transplant a bit next year and see if it takes.

I've got a Brunnera (but don't know which one) and you're right, it is one of the things that stand out. I've also got a very yellow leaved Dicentra which is not thriving (yet).

It's a mix of evergreen and deciduous, and one tree that blocks a lot of morning sun to that border is also deciduous so I might try some daffodils. There were some which were probably donkeys years old and blind.

Crocosmia I've always thought prefer sun but maybe I should grow bright things in pots and move them into the border when they come into flower.

I've got astilbes and purple loosestrife in a shady border.
Busy Lizzies will take some shade I think, for smaller brights and whites.

Asters don’t mind dappled shade.

I knew Astilbes would be mentioned. I've never found one I really liked but just had a look on Ballyroberts garden and there might be a couple that I like. It's fairly dry although a soaker pipe is to be connected to the water butt.

I have a self seeded plant growing in a pot and it looks like it could be loosestrife so there's a home for it.

It's pretty much full shade so maybe Asters wouldn't be terribly happy?

Try geums, especially the tall ones (mrs bradshaw or totally tangerine, or any of the yellows).

I've been amazed how they've thrived in my mostly shaded east facing border. They need to be divided every couple of years - I started 2 years ago with one of each, now have about 6 of each making clumps about a metre across). This year I've been keeping them deadheaded and they have been flowering since March and are still going.

Japanese anemone love shade (lovely thugs ). Foxgloves can also be pretty bright.

I've also had fabulous displays from Geranium rozanne and ann folkhard in shade, along with Polemonium (keep it dead headed) and some of the campanulas.

I have brightly coloured phlox in dry shade, plus some bright yellow alstroemerias, and fuchsia love shade too.

Rozanne (and other) hardy geraniums
Aquilegia
Iris
Japanese anemone

The Geums are a good call. I’ve put in a Geum Rivale and it’s doing well but the brighter ones might stand out more.

I’ve used a couple of Geraniums but they’re not as long flowering as Rozanne. I’ve never had a Polemonium but I’ve found a specialist nursery quite close to me that I might just investigate…

I’ve had a couple of Phlox in previous gardens but not much success - perhaps because they weren’t in shade.

So, I’ve got a bit of a shopping list now. A number of things suggested I’ve planted already and it could be I’m just impatient to see a mass of colour, but there may also be an element of choosing a bright enough version to stand out over a distance.

Thanks all 😊

I've replaced a couple of my clumps of geranium with Rozanne, and I want to get some of another recommended on this board, Azure Rush

www.ballyrobertgardens.com/products/geranium-azure-rush

The Anne Folkhard (and slightly smaller similar Anne Thompson iirc) are good bright colours all season, plant them near something they can scramble up.
There's also that pink geranium which grows wild or ferally- Wargrave Pink I think. I have too much of it,and don't love the colour - but the pink may show up better from a distance than some of the blues and purples, and grows anywhere afaik.

I have a partially shaded area (but leaning more towards shade than sun IYKWIM) and have found some geraniums that were for partial shade. Also pulmonaria seem to be happy there.

I've just got hold of a new variant of geranium called Patricia which looks and spreads very like Rozanne but it bright pink. It's really brightened up a very dark corner.

I can see an order going in to the Hardy Geranium Society 😊. I do have some of either Wargrave Pink or it might be Endressii but it’s not particularly floriferous or long lived flowers so not having a huge impact from a distance (up close, the border looks good). The longer flowering geraniums would be better.

I bought some Polemonium yesterday (Golden Feathers, Kaleidoscope and Virginia White) so hopefully they will like my soil.

It will sound a strange suggestion, but I have Salvia Hot Lips in a full shade (dry shade) spot and it does really well. It is big and bushy. It may well do even better in a sunny spot, but it is doing surprisingly well where it is.

Salvia are an interesting suggestion. Do you know how it got there WellTidy?

I planted it! I bought too many things in one go and ended up having to plant the salvia in a spot that on paper didn’t suit it (full shade, sheltered by shrubs either side). It was only a fiver from Waitrose so I didn’t stress too much. But I’ve had it there for three summers now and it has thrived.

Are these trees screening out a massive ugly building right at the end of your garden? If not, I’d have a tree surgeon lift and thin the crowns. It won’t be cheap but but it will transform the area.

False Goats beard. Some are very tall and bright. Acers take shade as well.

Have to say I’d be tempted to make the border bigger…

It’s interesting how things on paper shouldn’t work (or should) and then plants ignore that 😊

There is a building just beyond the hedge and another to be built so we want to see what it ends up as before doing anything to the trees there, but there is a Sycamore and Thuja to be pruned that would give much more morning sun. The border is 8-10 feet deep currently, it just slopes downwards toward the neighbours and has a couple of layers of dark evergreen shrubs so you can’t see it. DP thinks I’ve already taken too much off his lawn so I’d not get away with making it even deeper.

I have managed another plant buying spree today for some geraniums and found Ann Folkard, Patricia, nodosum Silverwood, and Sanguineum Album plus Hosta Purple Heart which might just be too lovely to relegate to the bottom of the garden.